Wichita eagle., 1887-05-25
A WILD NIGHT.
HOW THE NEWS OF LEES SUR
RENDER WAS RECEIVED.


little "pupn tents, or their shelters made of
boughs. All was still save the measured
tread of the sentinels as they passed to and
fro upon their beats around the sleeping
army.
Suddenly there came rattling through the
clear night air sound that aroused every
soldier in an instant We had often heard it
before and it always meant business 1t was
the long roll at division headquarters. And
such long roll as it was! The drummer
handled his sticks as if he was pounding for
his very life. When a soldier hears the long
| roll he never waits for orders 1t is an alarm
| that has but one meaning. His duty is to get
traps" on and take his place in line, and to
| be very lively about it, too. The drums at
| the Headquarters of each brigade took up the
sound and the piercing blasts OF bugles joined
| in the chorus. Startled from their sleep, the
| soldiers kicked off their blankets, and it
| wasn't a minute until tine companies were
| formed, every man with his accouterments
| buckled on and his musket at shoulder" in
| response to the "Fall inl" of the orderly SER
| geants Again drums and bugles sounded,
the companies marched to the color line and
the regiments were ready for action. 1t was
a moonless night, and the darkness Of the oak
woods was but feebly dispelled here and there
by the Pickering light Of the smoldering fires
MOMENTS OF ANXIOUS SUSPENSE.
Every ear was strained to catch the rattle
of shots on the picket line No sound was
heard save the hustle of the assembling troops
and the voices of the officers as they gave the
necessary commands. 1t was one of those
moments of anxious suspense that test the
courage Of the bravest veteran.
An orderly from brigade headquarters
dashed DIP and handed a paper to the colonel
Of our regiment. A bit Of candle was found,
and by its suffering light the colonel glanced
| at the message. Jumping about four feet
into the air he gave one wild, piercing yell
that an Apache chief might strive in vain to
| rival We all thought for the moment that
he had gone crazy When he came down
| he handed the paper to the adJutant,
letting off another yell. and told him
| to read it to the regiment It was copy
| of a telegram from Secretary Stanton
| announcing the surrender of Lees army. The
| scene that followed no words can adequately
describe. The colonel and adjutant swung
their hats and danced around and fairly
howled Every officer and soldier in the regi-
ment, and in every other regiment, did the
same thing We had heard shouting and
| yelling before, and had done our full share Of
| it on occasion, but never anything like that
which greeted the reading Of this dispatch.
From one end of the camp to the other the
confusion and uproar were prodigious. Men
laughed and danced and Rugged one another,
and rent the air with every kind Of noise pos
sible to the human voice pitched in its highest
key. 1t was as if the inmates Of a score Of
lunatic asylums had been turned loose in those
Tennessee woods.
When the yelling had in some degree sub
sided, from sheer vocal exhaustion, the sol
diers began to cast about for other means to
make noise. 1t didn't matter what it was
the more discordant the better, only so that
it helped to swell the awful din. Meanwhile
| all the brass bands were playing, though
nobody could tell what the tunes were; the
shrek of flies and rattle Of drums were heard
Oh every hand, and the buglers strained to
make themselves heard until it seemed as if
they would blow their heads off. Then the
artillery opened. Gun after gun joined in
the mighty chorus until every battery in the
! corps was sending forth its thunders to echo
among the mountains Regiment after regi-
ment began to fire their muskets The men
| took their cartridges from their boxes, poured
in the powder, rammed down the paper for
wadding, and blazed away. The balls they
threw upon the ground; there was no further
use for them.
| LITERAL PANDEMONIUM.
Perhaps you can imagine the din, but it's
more likely you can't. When the soldiers
had shot away their cartridges they hunted
up all the camp kettles and tin pans, and beat
! them furiously with sticks and stones, still
yelling and shouting as fast as IL = could
/ gather breath enough to do SO. The camp
WAS literal pandemonium- Heaped with
| wood the fires blazed high, and the forest was
aglow with light.
/ Men did all sorts of grotesque and ridicu-
lous things They climbed trees and yelled
through the branches; they made heroic
speeches from logs and stumps; they turned
their clothes inside out; they rode one an
other on poles-they did everything that
great fertility of resource in this direction
could suggest. At the headquarters of our
brigade horse bucket full of eggnog was
made, and the general and his staff INDUCED
in copious hbations. After several rounds"
they sailed forth and seized the Instruments
Of the band, and formed for a parade through
the camp. The general headed the process
sion with the bass drum, which he pounded
so furiously that he broke in one of the
heads. The staff officers, with horns, blew
the most wildly discordant blasts. AS they
marched hither and thither, regimental and
company officers and hundreds of soldiers
fell in behind the general and his staff, until
the column Of bowling lunatics was quarter
| Of mile long
Four years of toiling and suffering such az
others know not, of weary marches and vigils
by Gay and by night, through fierce heat and
beating storm; Of facing the pitileSs bullets
and screaming shell, amid awful scenes of
death and human anguish; long months and
| years that had thinned regiments of coo to
lo0-all were past, the end had come, and be-
fore the eyes of these SCARED and war worn
veterans arose in a moment blessed pictures
Of peace and home. Do you wonder that
they INDUCED in these wild and extravagant
demonstrations of joyl Added to these were
the glad feelings Of victory at last after all
the blood and wretchedness, and the patriotic
rejoicing over a nation saved by their valor
and sacrifices. Let me ask If YOU wouldn't
have been very likely to make fool of your
self for the time being if you had been there.
Let US hope that the recording angel vailed
her face that night-W. F. Hinman in Inter
Ocean.
Caught in His lat.
An organ grinder visited Riverside, Cal.
/ <ba l,x-